NEW GLOVES FOR CHRISTMAS!

Not winter gloves - quilting gloves.  See them below.  My old pair was practically shredded!  I asked Santa for a new pair and he did it!

Here's a few other items I received.  Smoked salmon!  A couple books!  I even found a recipe for smoked salmon quiche in the recipe book.  I think I'll make it!

I also asked for a boot cleaner.  When I go for walks my hiking boots pick up all kinds of stuff and it's very hard to get it out of the grooves on the bottom and the sides of the boots.  This should do the trick!

Time to make some more Dear Jane blocks.  Besides these three from Row G, there are 2 more prepped.  I might be able to squeeze a couple more in before the end of the year, hopefully.

Amazingly, I am finding it easier to get these done, probably because practice makes perfect and I have been doing a lot of PPing and appliqué with the first 6 rows.  I'm thinking about setting a goal of getting a row finished each month.  There are 6 more rows after this one (which I doubt I'll finish by Thursday), so if I set that goal and meet it I would finish the center blocks by the end of June.  I haven't set the goal yet, I'm just thinking about it.

I'm going to think about some other goals for 2016 as well.  Are you going to set goals? 

CHRISTMAS TRADITION

I think I've had this wooden Christmas tree from Norway for about 50 years and it holds 9 candles - the Angel Chime size.  This year I was determined to find candles for it, because when we moved, and put all our belongings into storage in Texas, I didn't save any candles because they would have just all melted in the heat.  Therefore, I didn't have any of the candles when we came to Oregon.  So, I went looking all over town looking for Angel Chime candles - Walgreens, Walmart, Winco, Dollar Tree, Good Will, Albertsons.  I asked a girl working at Albertsons if they had a Jewish section with menorah candles (the lady at Walmart suggested that they might work).  They didn't, but she offered to check with another Albertsons store to see if they did.  Guess what!  They did!  They are a little fatter than the other candles, so we pared down the bottoms to fit in the holders.

The tradition we have is that we light all of them for our Christmas Eve supper.  I am descended from Norwegian immigrants and growing up we also enjoyed the home made lefse that my aunt or grandma made.  I made some on Saturday and put it in the freezer - after testing it to make sure it was good!  Yummy!

Notice beside the tree are my 2 Christmas S&P shakers - gingerbread houses and Mr. & Mrs. Santa.

I got the ten minute block table runner quilted and bound this weekend.

I can't show the other Christmas gifts I've made, but I can show these mug rugs that I made for the girlfriends of a couple of my DIL's nephews who will be coming by their house on Christmas Day.  One is in nursing school and the other is already an RN.  I had some of this medical fabric on hand and made these so I would have a little gift for them.

Saturday, I went to a thrift shop looking for a kitchen item and found these two porcelain dolls for a good price.  As you can see, one of them has a crocheted dress as well that needs buttons in back.  The other one needs re-stringing and some clothes.  The one in the dress can stand up.  They were made in 1980 and are in perfect condition.  I think I might make some clothes for them and might try to sell them in my Easy shop.  Don't they have sweet faces?

Thanks to all for your many comments over the year and for so many wonderful posts about quilting and other things.  I have enjoyed my blogging adventures over the last about 7 years and look forward to many more!  Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!  

TEN MINUTE BLOCK

I've made this block before and when lived in Texas my guild had a workshop to make donation quilts out of this block.  So, now that I'm in Oregon, I offered to demonstrate how to make the block in my guild here.  In February, I will be doing that, so I decided I needed to make a couple samples to show them.

The first one is a table runner made out of a charm pack.  It is super easy and with a charm pack, I didn't even need to cut any fabric!  This charm pack had been in the bottom drawer long enough, and the fabric is lovely - Hemming House by Bannock & Patek for Moda.  It took less about an hour to put this top together.

This next top will be a donation quilt, as the guild I belong to donates to a few different places, a hospital, for one.  I cut all the pieces for this to 8" and each block finishes at 15",  so it is 45" square.  

I will quilt these before the demo and have sample blocks in various degrees of progress to show how it is done.

On my daily walk, I pass this tree, which always amazes me because of its size and the covering of moss.   I wonder how old it is.

I think I have finished all my Christmas sewing and the shopping is almost done.  I have some cookies and appetizers in the freezer already and more to make.  My sister will be visiting after Christmas!  How are your preparations going?

CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS

I know we are all busy getting ready for Christmas, but if you had the time to come over for a cup of tea and some cookies (which aren't baked yet), this is what you would see at my front door.  Under all the greenery is an old watering can that sits on an old short step ladder.  The greenery was picked up on my walks and the ice skates were obtained at a garage sale a couple years ago for 25 cents!  I love Christmas decorations and hope I don't ever get too decrepit to at least put something up.

Many years ago, my MIL made this jewel tree out of some of her old jewelry and it has been one of my favorite decorations.  It has some lights in it to make it sparkle.  I took the first picture with a flash and the second without the flash so you could see the lights better.  We have had this for at least 30 years, but I think even longer than that.

Without Flash

I finished this cross stitched piece in 1998 and made it into a quilted wall hanging.

Actually, last year I posted my Christmas decorations and they look the same this year.  You can see them HERE.

I would love to see your decorations too!  Now I better get busy finishing up some Christmas gifts.

PILLOWS!

I finished a couple more pillows, this time for 2 sweet little boys.  Jonah is 7 and Eli will turn 5 on Monday.  I made the pillows to be the size of travel pillows and the pillow covers are quilted on the front and can be removed for washing.  Their names are outlined with glow in the dark thread!

I'm just about ready to mail some Christmas boxes!  Are you ready for Christmas?

NOVEMBER DEAR JANE BLOCKS

Last month in this post, I indicated that I might try to finish Row F in November.  It seemed like a lot to do, but I had encouragement from some of you, so I decided to work on them extra hard.

Row F Completed

Of course, I worked on other things as well, some Christmas gifts, etc.  which I will show you when I can.  I think some of these blocks were the hardest of all the ones I've done to date.  Especially F-11 (3rd block in 3rd row).

I don't think I would be able to figure out how to do some of these without the help from this blog.
For the most part, I follow the instructions step by step and then I am able to make it.

December might be a different story, but I'll try to get at least a few blocks done.  I want to finish the quilt before I die!

Thanks to all who encouraged me - it means a lot.

BUSY WORK ON PROJECTS

I started quilting on this scrappy quilt and have about half of it quilted.  Then I stopped because there was a section that didn't turn out very well and I needed to take the stitching out, as well as turn my attention to some Christmas/birthday projects.

I made 4 of these outfits for 18" dolls.  One will be for my GD Abby for her birthday and the other 3 sets she can use a birthday gifts for friends.  I'm leaning towards giving her the one with the plaid blouse.  I really like that plaid fabric (which I got at a garage sale).

Here it is close up.

I like this polka dot blouse too.

I also made Abby a small pillow (travel size).  The cover comes off for washing.  I plan to make a couple for my 2 young GSs also.  In "boy" fabrics of course.

In the mean time, I have been working on my Dear Jane blocks and will post them soon.  In this post, I said I might try to finish Row F and that's what I'm working on!  I think I'll make it!

TREES, BOW TIES, ETC.

The trees have been beautiful this fall, but now the leaves are falling fast.  This picture was taken about a block from where I live and it's a maple variety with tiny leaves.

I participated in a Bow Tie Block Swap organized by Barb at Fun with Barb.  Here are the 4 1/2" blocks I received recently - all 82 of them plus 2 mini blocks from Barb.  I sent in 82 blocks that I made and then Barb distributed the blocks she received from everyone and we got back blocks made with a huge variety of fabrics.  Amazingly, most of them were with fabrics I had never seen before!  Now I just have to figure out how I want to make them into a quilt!

This "I Spy" quilt is a cheater cloth that I won from my guild in Texas a few years ago.  I decided it was about time to get it put together to donate.  It was very easy to quilt as I just quilted along the lines and I like the way it turned out.  I didn't even have to put a border on it.

The backing fabric is some that my GD gave me - I think she got it at Good Will - and it is perfect for this quilt!.

This is what I have on my design wall now.  I saw this pattern, Oak Leaves and Turkey Feathers  by Jan Patek several years ago, ordered the book and started it.  Then, it went into a box and sat marinating for a couple years.  I'm finally making some progress on it - I just added the pieced border and the skinny 1" inner border.  I have the final border cut and it needs to be appliquéd with a vine, oak leaves and flowers.  I was hoping to get it finished this month, but kind of doubt I'll make it, with the other things I have to do.  BTW, it will measure 78" square when finished.

Oak Leaves & Turkey Feathers

I finished the table runner that I showed you in my last post.  It is all quilted, bound and listed in my Easy shop.

In the mean time, I also quilted a queen size quilt and have been working on that.  I'll probably set it aside to work on the Oak Leaves & Turkey Feathers border.

Today, I'm going to a local craft fair and then to a quilt show and Artist tour in Willamina, OR, a town west of here.  I've never been to that town before, so it should be fun as I love seeing small towns.  I hope you have a nice weekend!  Thanks for visiting my blog.

SOME CURRENT PROJECTS

Here are some things that I've been working on lately.

This first one is a table runner that was on my design wall a couple posts ago and this morning I sewed it together.  I have it in the "basting" department now.

Somehow, I got the urge to make some "10 minute blocks" and this is the result.  Here is a link to a tutorial on how to make them.  These aren't sewn together yet.  Each piece of fabric was cut to 8" and each block uses 5 pieces of fabric.  The black in the middle is also 8" when you begin.

This one is going to be a "quilt of valor" hopefully.  I saw it on another blog and it looked pretty good - these aren't sewn together yet either.  I will need about 70 blocks and I think I'm over half way there.  It's a leader/ender project some of the time.

This is what each block looks like and it measures 8 1/2" square unfinished.  When you put them together they form pinwheels in opposite corners.

Hope you are sewing this week too.

OCTOBER DEAR JANE BLOCKS

I am happy that I got 9 blocks completed on my Dear Jane quilt!

E-6, E-7, E-8, E-11, E-12
F-3, F-4, F-7, E-13

That means I finished Row E and while I was at it I picked a few of the easy blocks from Row F.  I'm going to try to get Row F finished this month.  Can I do it?

Don't forget to vote for your favorite quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival - I'm not sure how long voting is open.

A SMALL QUILT FOR BLOGGER'S QUILT FESTIVAL

I love to make small quilts to use for home decorating, be it table runners, wall hangings or doll quilts.  This is a quilt I have made out of civil war reproduction fabrics.  I made 4" finished sawtooth stars (one of my favorite blocks) out of different blue prints, using the same background fabric for all of them.  Placed on point with a blue alternate inner blocks and brown setting triangles.  The quilt measures 21 1/2" square.

I quilted it myself on my domestic sewing machine by outlining the stars,  and quilted a star in the inner blocks.  The triangles have free motion feathers quilted in them and the border has loops.

         

I'm entering this quilt in the small quilt category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Follow the links to find out more and to see more of the quilts entered.

BLOGGER'S QUILT FESTIVAL FOR FALL

It all began here at a quilt shop in the Chicago suburb of Barrington that Beth took me to.  I saw the log cabin quilt (scroll down on my link to see it) and really, really loved it.  I knew it would be crazy to make one with one inch logs (unfinished).  Yes, that's one half inch finished!

I started the quilt sometime around the beginning of 2012 and finished it October 8, 2015 - just this month.  It is a scrappy quilt and measures 85" x 95".  Most of the piecing was done during our travels across the USA in our camper while visiting our 3 sons spread out from Florida to Oregon and visiting as many national parks as we could along the way.  I remember working on it while in Mississippi waiting for our truck transmission to be fixed.  My Featherweight got a workout on this quilt (and others).

It was finished and quilted with hooked feathers on my Janome 6600.   This link will show some sewing that was done in our camper on my Featherweight sewing machine.

I am entering it in the Scrappy Division of Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Here is the Festival Schedule:

October 23-29, 2015 – Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice

October 29-Novebmer 5, 2015 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories

Each blogger may enter two quilts in separate categories. 

CATCHING UP

Now that my log cabin quilt is finished, I need to catch up with a few things.  First, I decided to make a couple test blocks from the pattern, Pineapple Nine Patch.  I have admired this quilt for some time and am thinking about making it.  I cut some fabrics and sewed 2 blocks together to see what I think. I chose greens, browns and some blues for the dark and creams to yellows for the light.  I'll keep these 2 blocks on my design wall for a while to decide what I want to do.  Some of the fabrics are batiks and some are not.  

My guild here in Oregon always does a Round Robin quilt and I have never done one before.  I really hadn't planned to participate, but then I thought, "Why not?", so here is my center block - a butterfly.  I just have to embroider the antennae and I'm ready to turn it in next month.  I hope I'll be able to keep up with it each month.

Here's my design wall for today.  It is a hodge podge of things.  First, you will see a hummingbird.  I don't know what I'm going to do with him,

Second is a red/white/blue block that I will be using to make a Quilt of Valor.  I hope it will turn out OK.  I'm using it as a leader/ender project.

Under the Pineapple Nine Patch is a table runner of HSTs that I haven't sewn together yet.  I have sold 2 of these from my Etsy shop, so I decided to make another one.  I use charm packs for the colored half of the half square triangles.

Under that on the left is a table topper I'm making for my Etsy shop as well.  It is basted now along with a couple other table runners.  The other stars & multi-colored HSTs are up there to try to figure out what to do with them.

This blue and white table runner/dresser scarf was started back in Texas before we moved.  I'm not sure when I did the embroidery on it.  I finally got it basted for quilting.

 
Here's a close up of the embroidery.

Last, but not least, I have been doing some knitting while I watch TV at night and I've made 3 sets of this doll skirt and hat.  Of course, she has to have a blouse to go with them.  I got the yarn at the Good Will store in a large bag full of real nice yarn.  So far I've made 3 sets of skirts/hats and I don't know how many dish cloths with the yarn.

Here's the other color.  It looks pretty red here, but is really more rusty.  These will go to my DGD for her doll and the extra ones can be given to some of her friends.

Have a great weekend!  It's supposed to rain for the next 3 days here in Oregon.  

2 FINISHES!

My Log Cabin quilt is finished, except for the label!  It took me nearly 3 years to get it done and I am very happy!!  The "logs" are 1/2" finished.

The binding is the same fabric as the backing.

As you know, I had lots of quilting issues, but finally got that straightened out and fixed all the rat's nests on the back.

Here's a close up of the quilting if you can see it.  I posted this picture a week or so ago.

I also finished the Country Roads Quilt-a-long that Lori had.  It is quilted and bound as well.

Oh, it feels so good to finish things - especially things that have taken "forever."

We even went to the coast one day this week.  It's only about 50 miles from here.  The Oregon coast is beautiful, but not as good for swimming as Florida.  It was a cloudy day.  We got to see some whales splashing in the water about 1/2 mile off shore!

I'm celebrating the finishes today!